MONTLUON
369 aircraft of 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups - 209 Halifaxes, 120 Stirlings, 40 Lancasters. 5 American B-17s also took part. 2 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling lost.
This was a moonlit raid on the Dunlop rubber factory at Montluon in Central France. The Pathfinders marked the target accurately and the Master Bomber, Wing Commander D. F. E. C. Deane, brought the Main Force in well to carry out some accurate bombing. Every building in the factory was hit and a large fire was started. This appears to be the last occasion on which the Pathfinders used the Master Bomber technique until the spring of 1944.
No report of the raid is available from France.
Dortmund-Ems Canal
8 Lancasters of 617 Squadron took off to carry out the postponed raid on the banks of the canal but the area was misty and 5 aircraft were lost, including those of Pilot Officer L. G. Knight, another of the Dams Raid survivors, and the new squadron commander, Squadron Leader G. Holden. These heavy losses, and the losses of the Dams Raid, confirmed that low-level attacks on German targets, even when away from major defended areas, were not viable with heavy bombers and this type of operation was not repeated. 617 Squadron now started retraining as a specialist high-altitude-bombing unit.
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MODANE
340 aircraft of 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups - 170 Halifaxes, 127 Stirlings, 43 Lancasters - to attack the important railway yards at Modane on the main railway route from France to Italy. 5 American B-17s also took part. The marking of the target, situated in a steep valley, was not successful and the bombing was not accurate. No report is available from France. 2 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling lost.
Anthor Viaduct
12 Lancasters - 8 from 617 Squadron and 4 from 619 Squadron - attempted to bomb the railway viaduct near Cannes on the coastal railway line leading to Italy, but no direct hits were scored. 1 Lancaster of 619 Squadron was lost; it came down in the sea off Portugal, possibly while trying to reach Gibraltar.
Minor Operations: 5 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 3 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
